Jerusalem, September 28 (RHC-Xinhua) -- Shimon Peres, Israel's former president and its eldest statesman, passed away in a hospital outside Tel Aviv Wednesday morning, two weeks after he suffered a stroke, a spokesperson for the hospital confirmed.

Peres, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate and one of the most central figures in Israeli politics, died at the age of 93. He had been sedated and on a respirator since he suffered a stroke on September 13.

His nearly 70-year political career covered almost every role in the political arena, including president, two terms of prime minister, foreign minister, defense minister, finance minister, chairman of the Labor party, and leader of the opposition in the parliament.

Peres, who established Israel's nuclear program, also won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 for his part in forging the peace accords with the Palestinians a year earlier.

In a condolence letter to Peres' family, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the late former Israeli president had exerted unremitting efforts to make peace until the last moment of his life.

In his letter, Abbas expressed deep grief and sorrow for Peres' passing. "He was a partner in making the peace of the brave with late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin."